Over the weekend, more than 330 College Royal visitors participated in the first-ever Great Town and Gown Chili Chow Down and voted for their favourite recipes.
Twelve restaurant teams from downtown Guelph and U of G brought 24 types of chili to the event, and $1,175.95 was raised for the Guelph Food Bank through donations.
Baker Street Station won in the traditional chili category with their “beefer sutherland” recipe. Creelman Hall was the crowd favourite in both the unique and spicy categories with “apple-smoked turkey chili with maple sour cream candied bacon” and “100-mile cherry bomb chili with crispy onion frites.” And 39 Carden Street made the best vegetarian chili.
Local celebrity judges were Tracy Marchesich from the Guelph Food Bank; Prof. Peter Pauls, chair of plant agriculture; Sydney Sargent from Magic 109/CJOY; and U of G’s food laureate Anita Stewart.
To recognize food innovation at the University, each restaurant was challenged to include beans and other vegetables developed by U of G researchers and grown in Ontario. The vegetables were donated by the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers Association, Hensall District Co-operative and the Holland Marsh Growers Association.
A new event for College Royal, the Chow Down was organized by U of G and the Downtown Guelph Business Association.